[PiE News] September 2009 - Interview with Superintendent Skelly

State cuts to school districts, slowing property tax growth, and growing enrollment are all contributing to a predicted $5.7 million structural budget shortfall for the Palo Alto school district in the coming year. And Superintendent Kevin Skelly adds that the multi-year projections are even more dramatic, predicting a $10 million budget gap in four years. "When you start going out that far, who knows what's going to happen with the economy, but the trend is down, not up, and so we want to be prepared for that."

Preparations include tapping a $5.9 million reserve fund over the next three years, implementing a "soft" hiring freeze, and renewing a parcel tax set to expire in 2011. In the current year, large savings have also come from increased class sizes at the elementary and high school levels. "While some classes are still at twenty students, roughly two thirds of our K-3 elementary classes have seen an increase from 20 [students] to 21 or 22 [students]," Skelly says. And some high school English and Math classes traditionally funded by the state have increased in size as well. "But we think those are reasonable changes given our changing funding, and they result in substantial budget savings while allowing more students to attend their neighborhood schools."

With these new budget constraints, PiE's contributions to the school district provide critical program support. "If PiE wasn't funding some of these programs, like SPECTRA art in the elementary schools, they would be under tremendous scrutiny," Skelly says. Also, classroom aides become more important with increased class size in order to "make sure that our instruction is really targeted at kids and we do a good job at differentiation in terms of meeting kids' needs." At the high school level, PiE supports counselors that provide social and emotional support to students, in addition to helping families navigate the college process. And in middle school, Skelly adds, PiE provides "technology support that is vital for helping our staff keep up with the kids in terms of their sophistication with technology."

Skelly says the district will work hard to be financially responsible and he hopes the community will continue to support our schools. But he admits there are tough challenges ahead. "I don't think any one part of this solves our problem. We have to be a little smarter and a little more careful with our resources. It's a combination of parcel tax, parent support, budget cuts, and using reserves that can put us in a position where we're as strong as we possibly can be to meet the needs of kids." And the role of PiE will increase in importance in the face of the budget challenges over the next few years. "My sense is that we're really fortunate to have PiE at this point," Skelly adds. "In a strong economic headwind, people are still stepping up. And I think those people who have the resources now have a special responsibility to help support the schools."

Palo Alto Partners in Education (PiE) is a non-profit education foundation dedicated to supporting all Palo Alto public schools. To make a donation please visit PiE Donations